1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a low-irritant detergent composition, and, more particularly, to a detergent composition comprising an alkyl saccharide surfactant and a sulfosuccinate surfactant. The detergent composition possesses high foaming capability and low irritation to the skin. The detergent composition also imparts favorable feeling when used as a detergent for the hair or the skin without irritation.
2. Description of the Background Art
Nonionic surfactants have conventionally been used as a component for detergent compositions for the skin and the hair. They are less irritating in nature. However, since they are inferior in foaming capability to other types of surfactants, the amount which can be formulated is limited when they are incorporated especially in detergent compositions which call for high foaming properties, such as shampoos, body detergents, and the like. Some other drawbacks have accompanied the detergent compositions containing a single conventional nonionic surfactant, which include creaky feel upon use, poor foaming capability, and insufficient detergency when they are used as a detergent for the skin or the hair.
Among nonionic surfactants, alkyl saccharide surfactants have excellent foaming capability. Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 104625/1983 discloses compositions containing an alkyl saccharide surfactant together with an anionic surfactants such as alkylsulfate. The proposed compositions exhibit high foaming capability. They, however, provoke irritation to the skin or the scalp. Furthermore, compositions containing an alkyl saccharide surfactant having an alkyl group of C.sub.10 or more are unstable at a low temperature and tend to precipitate.
There has existed, therefore, a desire to develop detergent compositions which are usable as a detergent for clothing, dish-washing, human body including the hair and the skin, and the like, and are stable and less irritating to the skin and the hair, and which can provide sufficient foaming capability and detergency.
In view of this situation, the present inventors have conducted extensive studies to solve the above problems, and, as a result, found that by formulating an alkyl saccharide surfactant together with a sulfosuccinate surfactant, the foaming capability could be improved and the composition was capable of producing creamy foam which gives excellent slippery feel to the skin when it was foamed. The inventors also found that the composition gave excellent feeling to the skin and the hair after washing without irritation to the skin and that the composition was also improved in low-temperature stability. These findings have led to the completion of this invention.